Comic Books: How the Industry Works

This book is an insider's guide to how the comic book industry works. You'll learn how comic book superheroes are created and the deeper meanings they represent. You'll follow the development of sequential art storytelling - from caveman wall paintings to modern manga and cinematic techniques. Here you will explore comics in all forms: those flimsy pamphlets we call comic books; thick graphic novels; Japanese manga; and blockbuster movies featuring epic battles between good and evil. But behind it all, you'll discover how comics are an intellectual property business, the real money found in licensed bedsheets and fast-food merchandise, heart-pounding theme park rides and collectible toys, video games, and Hollywood extravaganza featuring such popular superheroes as Spider-Man, Superman, X-Men, and Batman.

The Author: Shirrel Rhoades is a former executive vice president of Marvel Entertainment and publisher of Marvel Comics. During a forty-plus-year career, he has held executive positions with Reader’s Digest, Ladies’ Home Journal, Redbook, Harper’s, and Scholastic. He taught magazine management for seventeen years at New York University’s Center for publishing, and he continues to consult in the magazine and comics industries.